Electric railroad



(No Model.)

2 SheetS -Sheet 2. I. ROBBINS. ELECTRIC RAILROAD.

Patented Oct. 6, 189.1.

INVENTOR. 15 a 120581215 By M g ATTORNEYS m: minis PETERS ca. mm'oumm, msmmmn. n. q

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IRA ROBBINS, OF SHEFFIELD, ALABAMA.

ELECTRIC RAILROAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 460,887, dated October 6,1891.

Application filed J'apnary 19, 1891. Serial No. 378,600. (No model.)

To all whom it ntcty concern.-

Be it known that I, IRA ROBBINS, of Sheffield, in the county of Colbert and State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Railroads, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved electric railroad of that class which employs a continuous insulated underground conductor from which the current is taken off at intervals along the road.

It consists, chiefly, in a series of springactuated drums having agiven length of con ducting-wire wound thereon and connected to a carrier which is dragged along by the car, the wire on the drum being connected to the main conductor, so as to shunt a portion of the current through the traveling wire and carrier to the car, the carrier being disconnected from the car when its section of wire is unwound, and the carrier being drawn back and the length of wire wound up on the drum again by its spring action at the same time that the car enters upon another section of the track similarly equipped, as hereinafter fully described.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the underground conduit. Fig. 2 is a horizontal longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section, and Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged details of the shuttle and the one thousand feet (more or less) are boxes or casings X, arranged underground and made air and water tight. In each of these boxes is arranged a spring (or weight) B, which, through a train of gear-wheels I5 13 B 15 tends to Wind up a drum 13 with a section E of insulated wire thereon equal in length to the length of the sections of road. This insulated wire is connected to the axle of the drum, and the latter has a rubbing contact with a bar 0, which is connected to the line-wire. The free end of the traveling wire E passes first over guide-roller D and then through a contracted neck a, as it issues from the box or casing, and is connected to a carrier F, constructed in the general form of a shuttle. This shuttle slides in a tube G, which extends along the route underground the length of one section, and said tube is slotted along its side throughout its entire length. Through this slot there extends a laterally-projecting arm F, attached to the shuttle and carrying the insulated wire E. At the end of this arm there is a vertical rocking arm II, which extends up through the slot in the conduit a few inches above the level of the road-bed, so as to be struck by a pendent arm N, extending downwardly from the car. The motor M on the car is electrically connected to this arm N, and its contact-face is adapted to touch a metal surface on arm II, which is electrically connected to the wire E, so that whenever the arm N presses against arm II, as would be the case when the car is traveling in the direction of the arrow, the current of the main line is shunted through the wire E and arms II and N to the motor, thereby supplying the necessary power to continue the movement of the car. This contact between the arms N and II is continued throughout one section of the track of from litty to one thousand feet, the shutter F being dragged along in its tube G by the car and the wire E bebeing reeled off the drum and paid out against the tension of the coil-spring, which latter is thus wound up. \Vhen the end of a section is reached, the arm II is disconnected from arm N, and the latter is caught against a similar arm H of another section.

To effect the disconnection-of the arm II from the arm N the guide-tube G of the shuttle is made to dip down at its end, as shown at G, Fig. 1, and this takes the arm H belowand out of contact with N and beneath the plate or covering of the conduit and the spring or weight draws the shuttle and wire back to the box again, the wire being rewound upon the drum from the uncoiling of the spring and the rotation of the gears. hen the shuttle passes back to the box, the arm II is thrown down into the slot of the conduit below the road-bed, and for this purpose arm II has an elbow II, which strikes a trip-lever I.

To throw the arm II up again when another car approaches, the trip-lever I is fixed to rack shaft 1 provided with an arm I,above which rests a depressible stem J, arranged to extend vertically a short distance through and above the rail, where it will be struck by the first car-wheel. When so struck and forced down, the lever-arm T rises, and in pressing against the arm 11 throws the arm H intoan upright position again.

To prevent the lever I from dropping immediately after being raised, the piston of a pneumatic cylinder K is attached thereto, which, by a gradual escape of air, after the manner of a door-check, holds the arm H up until the car-arm N catches it.

In constructing and arranging the shuttle F and arm H the horizontally-projecting shuttle-arm F, Fig. 4, is reduced in size, and an oscillating sleeve F is arranged thereon, which sleeve carries the arm H. This sleeve has a ground joint at b at one end and a closing screw-cap c at the other end, so that no water can get into the same.

A spiral spring (1 is wound upon the outer end of arm F and bears at one end againsta pinf, fixed in said arm, and at the other end against a chamber a, formed in the sleeve F so as to hold its ground joint at b tightly against its bearing on thearm F.

E and E is the metal conductor which passes in an insulated manner from the wire E in the shuttle centrally through the horizontal arm F and swinging vertical arm H.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim as new is- 1. The combination, with a continuous main conductor, of a series of resilient or returning shunt-wires connected electrically to the main conductor and a drag connection for said wires arranged to be pulled along by the car and transmitting the electric current and lifting devices for raising and lowering the arm H above or-below the road-bed, substantially as shown and described.

4. The combination, with the car having contact-arm N, of a traveling shuttle-carrier having a coacting contact-arm and a continuously-slotted tube G, having a portion G, depressed or ofiset from the car to withdraw the shuttle-arm from the car-arm, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with the wire E, of the attached shuttle F, having horizontal arm F, oscillating sleeve F mounted thereon and provided with arm H, and the spring d, hearing at one end against the arm and at the other end against the sleeve, substantially as shown and described.

6. The combination, with the shuttle F and the rocking arms H .H, of the lever I I, depressing-pin J, and pneumatic cylinder K, substantially as shown and described.

IRA ROBBINS. 

